Chief Justice critical of court IT

Confidential information provided to the Supreme Court of Victoria, including from sensitive commercial and terrorism-related trials, may be compromised if the court is forced to submit to a centralised Victorian government information technology system, Chief Justice of Victoria
Marilyn Warren
warns.

In a scathing introduction to the court’s annual report, tabled in Parliament last week, Chief Justice Warren also said a separate IT system introduced to manage litigation had underdelivered, and described the Supreme Court building as dysfunctional and dangerous.

Chief Justice Warren said the court had been “at pains" to explain to the state government “the unsuitability and, indeed, serious difficulties the CenITex system poses for the Supreme Court" given the government was a major litigator in the court. She also said it was “extremely undesirable" for the court to allow an external helpdesk agency to be able to access judges’ desktops, which contained confidential documents.

Victorian Attorney-General
Rob Hulls
said the government, which faces an election next month, had “reached an interim agreement, which provides the court with significantly enhanced security measures to ensure their concerns have been addressed".

Shadow attorney-general
Robert Clark
said a coalition government would abandon the CenITex plan and ensure courts had “independent and court-controlled IT systems".

Chief Justice Warren said the Integrated Courts Management System, known as Courtview, which started a year ago, had “not yet provided electronic filing or data interpretative tools as anticipated", although it had improved following initial “dramatic time delays". Mr Hulls acknowledged “some aspects of the system have been delayed", but said “the Department of Justice has put in the resources needed to complete it. ICMS will transform the way the courts operate. The result will be a court system that functions more efficiently and in an integrated way".

The government refused to reveal the cost of the project or expected future costs, following an Auditor-General report in June last year that showed the project budget had blown out by 36 per cent to $44 million.

Chief Justice Warren also said judges were coping “with physical dysfunction, compromised security, inaccessibility, insufficient workplace safety for staff and an inadequate complex for the disabled". She also criticised the physical separation of elements of the court, which was “grossly inefficient".

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Mr Hulls said the government had invested $26 million in the upgrade of the Supreme Court’s building and the court would have access to brand new multi-use courtrooms in the William Cooper Justice Centre, which opened this month after a $33 million refurbishment. The government had allocated $2 million in the next budget for “maintenance, replacement and redevelopment of the courts . . . and will include a plan for the future of the Supreme Court".

But Chief Justice Warren called for a commitment to build a new Supreme Court, following an international architectural competition to find the best design.

“A new building is a unique opportunity for a tangible symbol of accessible justice for the Victorian community," she said.